Beschreibung

Beschreibung

Global attention to biodiversity has expanded in the past decade. Agricultural biodiversity is the most important part of biodiversity for human survival, yet has been neglected as a topic. This book provides a broad review of current thinking on agrobiodiversity - what it is, how it is conserved, and how it can be better utilized in sustainable farming. It brings together contributions from a wide geographical and disciplinary background. Emphasis is placed on functional interactions between components of agrobiodiversity in a range of farming systems, illustrated by many case studies. The book relates the evolution of agrobiodiversity and its successful management to the broader environment and to the growing need to conserve biodiversity in productive agricultural systems. It is essential reading for ecologists, biologists and agricultural scientists.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Plant and animal biodiversity; soil biodiversity and its management; plant pathogen and insect biodiversity and their management; traditional and modern management systems; seed management systems and regulatory mechanisms; approaches to conservation and socioeconomic issues; parallels with wild biodiversity; optimizing agrobiodiversity for productive agriculture.

Pressestimmen

This magisterial work examines human interaction with the biosphere, agriculture in all its manifestations from the supposedly innocent and effectless acts of hunter-gatherers to the most industrialized monocultures of today's unsentimental corporate farms. It is the sort of book which must be factored into the planetary debate on the preservation of biotic resources. The scientists whose work is presented here should be heard in a world which is all too willing to engage in pitched battles over oversimplified scenarios, usually misrepresented to the public in a contest which is almost always political. Anyone reading this important book will begin to understand the high proportion of ignorance in the environmental elitism found in all sections of the public war over the blessed, and not so blessed, diversity of life. Man is mostly the hero in this collection of scientific studies, agriculture is his great monument."--John Swenson, Chicago Botanic Garden"Offers a broad review of current thinking on agrobiodiversity, how it is conserved, and how it can be used in sustainable farming, relating the evolution of agrobiodiversity and its successful management to the broader environment and the need to conserve biodiversity in productive agricultural systems. Emphasis is on functional interaction between components of agrobiodiversity in a range of farming systems, with many case studies. Specific topics include biodiversity in domesticated animals, pathogen biodiversity, plant breeding and loss of genetic diversity, pest management, and alternative tillage and seed management systems. The editors are affiliated with Agrobiodiversity International, UK."--SciTech Book News